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&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: &#39;Arial&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;&quot;&gt;Yes you can, but there are many better options. You can withdraw the contributions from your Roth IRA at any time without a penalty or tax bill. And you can withdraw your earnings penalty free for college expenses, although you will have to pay taxes on your earnings. &lt;?xml:namespace prefix=&quot;o&quot; ns=&quot;urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office&quot;?&gt;&lt;o:p style=&quot;MARGIN: 0px&quot;&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: &#39;Arial&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;That tax bill is definitely a drawback. But the biggest downside to tapping the Roth IRA money is that you can&#39;t ever put it back, costing you years of tax-free growth. You can only invest up to $4,000 into a Roth IRA in 2007 ($5,000 if you&#39;re 50 or older), so there is a big limit on the amount of money you can have in the account for retirement. &lt;o:p style=&quot;MARGIN: 0px&quot;&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: &#39;Arial&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;&quot;&gt;Say, for example, you withdrew $15,000 from your Roth IRA at age 45 for college costs. You may or may not have a tax bill, depending on how much money you&#39;d contributed to the account. But you will have the opportunity cost. If you&#39;d kept that money in the account for 20 more years instead and your investments averaged 8 percent per year, you could have amassed nearly $70,000 in tax-free money by the time you retire, rather than the $15,000 you&#39;d take for college costs now. &lt;o:p style=&quot;MARGIN: 0px&quot;&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: &#39;Arial&#39;,&#39;sans-serif&#39;; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;&quot;&gt;It&#39;s a much better idea to save college money in a 529 college-savings fund instead, which will give you taxfree money for college and let you keep your retirement money in the IRA for your future expenses. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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